Academy Murder
by socgrl
Summary: The case is wrapping up...what's next?
1. Academy Murder

Title: Academy Murder  
  
Chapter: 1/?  
  
Author: socgrl  
  
Rating: PG-13, graphic content due to a murder scene  
  
Category: Adventure/JAG story  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. And even if I did it wouldn't be worth much anyway. I don't own them and besides I would have had H and M together a long time ago.  
  
Summary: A little trouble at the Naval Academy right before Halloween.  
  
Spoilers: Enemy Below, Critical Condition, and seasons 2-7 pretty much  
  
  
  
  
  
25 October 2002  
  
0230 EST  
  
Naval Academy, Annapolis Maryland  
  
Midshipman Crystal Myers walked out of the head and walked back to her dorm. She had a terrible headache that had been lingering all day. It didn't help that at the moment she was in the middle of midterms and was up all night studying.  
  
The lightning was bright and the thunder was loud. 'Just what I need right now, depressing weather to go with the mood I'm in' she thought to herself. Everyone was pretty much asleep on her hall, which was fine by her. Even though this was a military academy people could still be rather noisy when they got the urge.  
  
As she neared her door the lights went out. Crystal was in one of the older dorms on campus and the power had a habit of cutting out at the most inopportune times. 'Great, this is just great. I still have another chapter to study. Shit.'  
  
10 minutes later.  
  
A groggy Midshipman Michelle Chase made her way down the hall. The power had been out for about 15 minutes. She was in desperate need of a bathroom. One of her instructors had advised her to drink more water before PT in the morning so as to not get dehydrated. She was just following orders and made a run for the head. It was nearly pitch black and she noticed a form towards the side of the hall. Not thinking much of it Michelle kept on her route. All of a sudden Michelle felt some sort of liquid under her feet. It was thick.not like water.but something all together different. She stopped in her tracks and knelt down to feel what the liquid was. She now took notice of the form just to the side of her. Michelle felt the form and rolled it over. (A clap of thunder sounded and lighting lit up the sky and the hallway) The lightning illuminated the face of Crystal Myers.a dead Crystal Myers. Midshipman Chase belted out a scream that could be heard all across Annapolis.  
  
  
  
0800 EST  
  
JAG Headquarters  
  
Falls Church, Virginia  
  
"Tiner" yelled Admiral Chegwidden through the intercom. "Get me Rabb and MacKenzie, ASAP." "Aye aye, sir" replied the timid Petty Officer.  
  
PO Tiner left his desk and walked to the coffee room where he found just the people he was looking for. "Sir, Ma'am, the Admiral asks to see you ASAP." "Yes Tiner, we'll be right there."  
  
Harm looked at his partner and laughed, "Wow, 0800 on a Monday morning, we don't waste any time getting in trouble, do we?" "Well as long as we're getting in trouble together it's not so bad. He usually puts most of the blame on you," she said with a grin. "Cute marine, very cute."  
  
"Sir, you wanted to see us?" Harm said. "At ease, take a seat." Both Harm and Mac took their respected seats across form their CO. "Early Friday morning at around 0230 a Midshipman Crystal Myers was found killed outside of her dormitory, at the academy, by a Midshipman Michelle Chase. Chase found Myers when she was going to the bathroom. Apparently the power had been knocked out by the storm that came through that evening.(sighing).Anyway, NCIS investigated the scene and found that Midshipman Myers had been hit over the head with a blunt object, which in turn caused hemorrhaging, and brain damage. She was lying in her own pool of blood when Chase found her. Because of the shortage of oxygen to the brain the lungs shut down which in turn caused asphyxia and death. Your mission is to question all of the girls on the hall and see if the you can come up with a motive and suspect. Any questions?" "No sir" was the response in unison. "Good you will leave immediately for Annapolis and I would like this wrapped up quickly. Understood." "Yes sir." "Dismissed" "Aye aye, sir." The partners stood to leave, did an about face and passed through the doors heading to their prospective offices.  
  
Grabbing their covers and briefcases the met each other in the bullpen. Harm was on his cell phone by the time they got to the elevator. "Bud? It's Harm." Harm briefed Bud on the case. "Can you get a hold of Mikey and see if he knows of a Midshipman Crystal Myers or a Midshipman Michelle Chase. You know if they had any classes together or if he has heard any scuttlebutt about the murder that occurred this weekend. Thanks Bud, any information will be helpful." Harm hung up the phone and turned to Mac, "It's good to have connections" he said giving her a full 'flyboy' grin.  
  
Mac began to blush and laugh at the same time. "We should be in Annapolis by 1000 at the latest. When we get there we will go right to the dormitory and interview the middies and see what they know." "Good thinking Harm. If Bud calls you with any information from Mikey you should meet up with him and see what he knows, if anything. I'll keep interviewing. Someone has to know something."  
  
  
  
0945 EST  
  
Naval Academy  
  
Annapolis Maryland  
  
Since Harm and Mac were running early the decided to check out the scene. Together they walked up to the fourth floor of Myers' dorm. They walked towards the end of the hall where the crime scene was marked off. They walked under the tape to look in Myers' room where everything was immaculate as would be expected. Her desk was cluttered but that was due to the notes she had been studying. "She was good. Her room is immaculate, just like a first year" said Harm. Mac sighed, "Brings back old memories huh?" "You could say that." They walked back out of the room and passed once more under the tape and checked out the hall.  
  
The chalk outline was about three feet from her doorway. Dried blood was still apparent. "Indications show that Myers was struck from behind with a blunt object, she collapsed, and hit the ground with enough force that she also hit her head upon ascent." "According to the reports the object wasn't large like the butt of a baseball bat but rather something a tad bit smaller," said Mac. "The reports list all of the objects that are common in this particular dorm, that is the objects that are Academy issue. Each of these women were issued a saber. Do you think that Myers could have been killed with the butt of the saber?" questioned Harm. "That's a good possibility, the only question would be why would you want to hit Myers over the head with the butt of the saber, why not stab her through and through?" Mac returned. "True, but the weapon wasn't left behind. If Myers was stabbed then the trace of blood would be all over the saber in question, it would be less obvious to look at it as a battering object."  
  
They walked out of the dormitory and decided to walk over to the riverside and meet up with Midshipman Chase.  
  
Chase was completing her morning run and ran along the outer gates of the track and toward the water line. There she saw two officers standing side by side. "Commander Rabb? Colonel MacKenzie?" Chase asked. "Michelle Chase?" Mac questioned in return. "It's nice to meet you sir, ma'am. I've heard so much about you. I've decided law is the way I want to go and your names pop up a lot in my lecture classes. You're kind of like celebrities to the Navy if you don't mind me saying. " Together they all laughed. "Well then it's a shame we couldn't meet you under different circumstances Midshipman" "Yes sir, it is."  
  
Chase began to speak again but this time her tone was serious, "I followed regulations when I reported the incident to the Corp Major. She was shocked as we all were. Crystal was a well-liked girl. Hard working, funny, didn't have any enemies that we were really aware of." "What do you mean by 'that we were really aware of?" questioned Mac. "We'll you see Midshipman Myers had a boyfriend, Midshipman David Lock. Now he had gotten into an argument with some guy, I think his name was Midshipman Lucas Summer, anyway they got into an argument because Summer made some rude comments about Myers and Lock didn't take well to his ill humor, so to say" summed up Chase. Harm and Mac shared an insightful look and then turned back to Chase. "Your footprints were found in the blood, is that correct?" asked Harm. "Uh.yes sir. You see I was on my way to the bathroom and it was pitch black. I could make out a form of something but didn't really think much of it. All of a sudden I was walking through some kind of liquid but I couldn't identify it. I knelt down to see what it was and realized that the form was Crystal's.I mean Midshipman Myers' body." "I think we have all that we need, thank you for your help Midshipman Chase, if you have anymore information give us a call, or if you feel like you are in jeopardy" said Mac handing the girl her card. "Yes ma'am. " Chase executed a salute and an about face and continued her run to her temporary dorm.  
  
Harm and Mac watched the retreating midshipman and turned back towards each other. "I think we may have a possible suspect," said Harm.  
  
A/N: Tell me what you think.the good, the bad, and the ugly.preferably the good. 


	2. The Investigation

Title: Academy Murder  
  
Chapter: 2/?  
  
Author: socgrl  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Category: Adventure/JAG story  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. And even if I did it wouldn't be worth much anyway. I don't own them and besides I would have had H and M together a long time ago.  
  
Summary: A little trouble at the Naval Academy.  
  
Spoilers: to be as unspecific as possible.everything from season 2 till now.  
  
  
  
Last time on JAG:  
  
Harm and Mac watched the retreating midshipman and turned back towards each other. "I think we may have a possible suspect," said Harm.  
  
  
  
28 October 2002  
  
1245 EST  
  
Naval Academy, Annapolis Maryland  
  
Harm's phone rang. "Commander Rabb, it's Midshipman Michael Roberts. I was told by Lieutenant Roberts that you wished to speak with me about the murder of Midshipman Myers. I could meet you in the mess for lunch if that is ok with you sir" Mikey spit out in one breath. "At ease Mikey.that sounds like a good idea. Colonel MacKenzie and I will meet you there at 1300 sharp." "Aye aye, sir" and then Mikey was gone. "That poor kid.he's definitely a Roberts" laughed Harm.  
  
Harm and Mac walked into the mess and found Mikey at one of the tables. As he saw them coming forth he stood at attention and addressed them "Commander Rabb, Colonel MacKenzie it's nice to see you again." "And you too Mikey" said Mac. Under his breath so that the other Midshipman wouldn't hear him Harm said, "Mikey, cool it. We are just here to ask you some questions." "Understood sir." Harm and Mac looked at each other and laughed. "So what do you know Mikey?" "Well sir, like I told Bud, I know Midshipman Lock. He's a stand up guy and that's how I met Midshipman Myers and she's perfect for Lock. They were like two of a kind, quiet and hard working, but they were also friendly and funny. See they were seeing each other.well as well as you can see someone at the academy.anyway we had met each other one night at a sort of liberty night that we are granted once a week. So we all went to this movie that was playing on campus in one of the lecture halls. When we left we ran into Midshipman Summers on our way out and he was walking with his 'girlfriend', Midshipman Miranda Baines. See Summers started yelling obscenities at Crystal because on the way out she had accidentally bumped into Baines and she in turn ran into Summers. So he was taking the accident way out of proportion." "Do you think that that incident could be a direct link to the murder?" Mac asked Mikey. "Well not exactly ma'am. You see the week after Summers publicly apologized to Myers and Lock for his behavior. And all was forgiven. In fact I think he was kind of sweat on Myers, cause he broke up with his girlfriend just after he apologized." "Well I know you have to get to class so we'll let you go. Mikey it was good to see you again. Keep up the good work." "Yes sir, will do. It was good to see you both again as well." Mikey got up to leave and then Harm and Mac followed shortly after.  
  
Once outside their conversation started up once again. "What do you say we go get something other then chow that way we can regroup and we'll come back afterwards and take this from a different angle." "Sounds good to me. I'm starving," said Mac. "Is that supposed to surprise me?" questioned Harm. This earned him a glare from his partner. "You think you're cute don't you?" "No" stated Harm frankly, "I know I'm cute" and he followed with a devilish grin. "Shut up would you and feed me already" Mac said and playfully punched him in the shoulder.  
  
20 minutes later  
  
They ate at a nice little tavern that looked out over the Severn River. It was cozy and intimate and the 'now couple' found themselves at ease in their quaint surroundings. Harm reached out for Mac's hand and started up a conversation, "You know I can't believe how well the Admiral took our engagement." "Yeah me too" followed Mac, "Now the only question is how is he going to end up sticking it to us?" "Well I'm not supposed to tell you this so if you leak it I will have to kill you," said Harm with a playful grin at his lips, "I think he's going to put one of us up for judgeship. And at this point I think it's going to be you considering I am being advised due to my conduct lately." "Really?" answered Mac. "I hope this doesn't effect our relationship.that is.if I do end up with the position. I will be running the court.I'll be in control over you," said Mac this time she was carrying the devilish grin. "I hope you don't mind being given orders by a woman let alone a Marine." "Oh, I think I can handle it, in fact it's kind of kinky in a way.you up their in a black robe.hum.But anyway, so what do you think we should do now?" "Well I know what I want to do, but it's too early to go home, and besides we are on an investigation," said Mac, which earned her a flyboy grin from Harm. "We should at least go find this Summers character and see how much of the puzzle he fits into."  
  
  
  
1430 EST  
  
Naval Academy  
  
Annapolis, MD  
  
When Harm and Mac returned to the academy the decided that they would go and find Midshipman Summers and question him and then head back to the office for the day.  
  
Harm and Mac found themselves outside of Summers' dormitory. They knocked and in a matter of seconds they found themselves staring face to face with whom they took to be Midshipman Summers. "Are you Midshipman Lucas Summers?" Harm questioned. "Ah yes sir I am Midshipman Summers. Can I help you?" "Yes, I am Commander Rabb and this is Colonel MacKenzie. We are with the JAG corp and we are here to investigate the murder of Midshipman Crystal Myers. Did you know Ms. Myers?" "Yes, sir, well sort of. We ran into each other on occasion. My girlfriend.well ex-girlfriend lived across the hall from her. So I knew her in passing." "Did you find Ms. Myers attractive?" asked Mac making her mark in the questioning. "Well to be honest yes ma'am. But what does that have to do with anything? Am I a potential suspect ma'am?" "Don't jump to conclusions Midshipman, all we are doing is asking questions" countered Harm to calm Summers down.  
  
What they found was nothing. Summers had a corroborated alibi. He was in the engineering building working on a project with two upperclassmen. They defended his whereabouts and so did the engineering professor, who had assigned the project. So they were back to square one. It had been a long day with nothing to show for it. They would make the drive back up tomorrow morning to interview the rest of the girls that lived on the hall with Chase and Myers. But for now they were going to go back to JAG, return the company car, and then head home.  
  
1830 EST  
  
Georgetown  
  
Home of Colonel MacKenzie  
  
Mac opened the door to her apartment and Harm was right on her heels. They went into the bedroom to change into more comfortable cloths. Mac slipped off her shoes and threw them into the closet. "Ugh. I'm exhausted. I can't believe after all that we have absolutely nothing to show for it. It figures, every time the Admiral wants things handled quickly they happen to be the cases where nothing adds up." Harm began to take off his uniform shirt and dug through the duffle bag that he had brought over. "Well what do you say to some Chinese and then we can go over our notes.then maybe.a bubble bath?" "Hum.that sounds nice," said Mac as she took off the rest of her uniform and changed into a silk pajama top and matching shorts. "I thought you might like that idea," said Harm as he to had changed completely out of his uniform and put on a pair of mesh shorts and a Navy t-shirt.  
  
He walked over and stood behind Mac. He could tell she was tense so he began to knead her shoulders. She let out a soft moan, "Please, Don't stop." Harm continued his ministrations and moved the hair from behind her ear to the side. He kissed her neck and her earlobe. "Sarah, do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" "Harm" Mac said and began to blush "I love you so much. How did I get to be so lucky?" "I guess I rubbed off on you," said Harm. "We are getting a little ahead of ourselves. We still have some work that needs to get done and besides I'm getting hungry. Why don't I call in the order and you make drinks and set out the files we need to go over." "Aw Harm.do I have to" Mac whined. "Yes ninja girl you have to. The whining was a nice touch though." "I thought so. All right, you go make the call and I'll set out the work."  
  
Twenty minutes later the delivery boy rang the doorbell. "I have a delivery for Rabb, two orders of veggie lo main, two egg rolls, and two orders of wanton soup." "Yep, that's us. Thank you" said Harm as he paid the kid and went into the kitchen to grab chopsticks. "I see you like lo main now huh" said Mac. "Well it was a hell of a lot better then that Buddha's Delight crap Sturgis suggested. Besides I liked sharing dinner with you. It was kinda romantic." Harm said as he set the food down on the coffee table and gave Mac a quick kiss on the lips. "Ok, lets see where we stand."  
  
After about two hours of running over all of the information Harm and Mac just seemed to be getting frustrated. Harm had gotten up to make some coffee and a short time later he came back into the room with a steaming mug. "Ok the facts, Myers was killed due to a strike by a blunt object. The killer came from behind without warning. We know that our prime suspect now has an alibi." "Speaking of Summers, do you think he could have broken up with his girlfriend in hopes of being with Myers?" "Well it's a possibility, I guess. What are you getting at Harm?" "I think we may be going at this from the wrong angle. You remember that case you prosecuted against Juanita Ressler." "Of course I do Harm, it was complete hell." "Well the defendant killed her husbands mistress, right?" "Yeah, I argued that she was prone to violence due to prior acts." "What if that's what we have going on here?"  
  
A/N: Sorry I have to leave some of the mystery.but you all are smart and you've probably caught on and know where I'm going with this. So anyway read and review, the good, the bad, and the ugly. 


	3. Pleading Guilty

Title: Academy Murder  
  
Chapter: 3/?  
  
Author: socgrl  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Category: Adventure/JAG story  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. And even if I did it wouldn't be worth much anyway. I don't own them and besides I would have had H and M together a long time ago.  
  
Summary: A little trouble at the Naval Academy.  
  
Spoilers: to be as unspecific as possible.everything from season 2 till now.  
  
  
  
Last time on JAG:  
  
"Speaking of Summers, do you think he could have broken up with his girlfriend in hopes of being with Myers?" "Well it's a possibility, I guess. What are you getting at Harm?" "I think we may be going at this from the wrong angle. You remember that case you prosecuted against Juanita Ressler." "Of course I do Harm, it was complete hell." "Well the defendant killed her husbands mistress, right?" "Yeah, I argued that she was prone to violence due to prior acts." "What if that's what we have going on here?"  
  
2145 EST  
  
Georgetown  
  
Home of Colonel MacKenzie  
  
"So what you're saying is that you think Summers' girlfriend, Midshipman Baines, killed Myers out of jealousy?" "I think it's a possibility." "Well it's the best idea we've come up with so far. Why don't we call it a night.that way I can have that bath you promised me.and then first thing in the morning we go and interview Baines." "I think that may be a good idea, but on the way out to Annapolis I think we should try to get in touch with Chase one more time.that way we aren't going in their totally blind." "Sounds good to me. Now about that bath?" "Hop to it Marine."  
  
Harm started the bath for Mac and put in bath bubbles and lit some chamomile-scented candles. He played some light jazz in the bedroom and then went to the kitchen to get the Champaign flutes and sparkling grape juice.  
  
Mac stripped down and slowly made her way into the bath. The water was hot.but not unbearable. In fact.it was a perfect temperature for relaxing. When she was comfortable under the layers of bubbles Harm walked into the bathroom. "Here you are gorgeous.a little of the bubbly." "Harm you are so sweet, thank you flyboy." "Now just relax." Harm began to continue the massage he started earlier.  
  
Some time that night Harm and Mac finally made it to bed. Both were exhausted and they traded massages to loosen the tension filled day.  
  
  
  
0830 EST  
  
One the Road  
  
Annapolis MD  
  
Harm finally got a hold of Midshipman Chase and they decided to meet at the same spot as yesterday. "Midshipman Chase, what was the relationship like between Midshipman's Myers and Baines?" "Well sir, to be honest, they got along most of the time, but there were times when they got into arguments and wouldn't talk to each other for a week. See it really bugged Myers that Baines always felt she needed to be right, about everything. She told me one night that she was just too frustrated to deal with her anymore. So Myers would keep her distance to avoid a confrontation." Mac jumped in with the next question, "Do you think that Baines sensed the attraction of Midshipman Summers to Midshipman Myers." "Yes ma'am. The day that Summers told Baines that he didn't want to see her again.well she kind of blamed it on Myers. See Baines has to kind of be the center of attention and well when Midshipman Summers told her that he didn't want to see her anymore it came as a shock. He told her that he was looking for someone more like Midshipman Myers." "Can you be positive about these allegations Midshipman Chase?" "Oh, yes sir, that's an affirmative. You can ask pretty much anyone on the hall. She was so pissed off.sorry for the lack of better words.about the whole situation. She ranted all day long." "Which day was this Midshipman?" Mac asked. "Well.actually ma'am it was the day of the murder. But Myers was so pent on studying for midterms that she paid no attention to Baines.not that it mattered anyway. She was happy with Lock. And Summers wasn't her type at all." "Well Midshipman you will come to find that in this line of work motive doesn't always make sense."  
  
Harm and Mac both thanked Midshipman Chase again for the information she was able to provide. "Well sir, ma'am, she was one of my best friends. I know I had only just met her a couple of months ago but she was just one of those people. It truly is a shame."  
  
Harm and Mac then made their way to the temporary dormitory escorted by two MP's. They found Midshipman Baines and read her her rights and then informed her of the charges. "Midshipman Baines, you are being taken into custody for the murder of Midshipman Crystal Myers. We will also be confiscating your saber for ballistics evidence. If you have any alibis that could corroborate your whereabouts the morning of 26 October at 0230 name them now so that they may be interrogated."  
  
1645 EST  
  
JAG Headquarters  
  
Falls Church  
  
By the end of the afternoon Harm and Mac had gotten all they needed to charge Midshipman Baines with the murder of Midshipman Myers. As they walked into Mac's office she sat down at her desk and Harm found a comfortable spot on the edge of her desk, off to the left. "She spilled everything. You know I really can't understand some people's need for attention. It's one thing to be upset about your boyfriend breaking up with you, but it is totally different to kill the object of his affection." "Yeah really," Mac sighed. "What?" Harm questioned lightly. "I was just thinking.I mean considering our history with significant others and their apparent jealous fits it's a wonder further action was never taken." "Are you trying to say that you are surprised that neither of us had bodily harm inflicted on us because of suspicion of fraternization?" "Precisely counselor. I mean if I were Renee I would have been upset if I had seen you practically drool over me!" "Hey.I never drooled." Harm said without thinking. "Ah ha.see you thought about me though." "Of course I did Mac, Sarah. How could I not" as Harm said this he reached down and ran his thumb over the top of Mac's left hand. "Well why don't we finish this conversation up at my place. We can stop by the market on our way home and I'll make us something great for dinner. What do you say?" "Sounds good to me. But Harm, I can cook if you want." "We'll see." With this they left Mac's office and stopped by Harm's to get his cover and briefcase and headed to their respective cars.  
  
A/N: I'm going to keep going with this one cause it's fun.I just wanted to let you know that at the Naval Academy (or any military academy) you aren't allowed to date while in your first year, but it made the story interesting because they were so new to the whole system. R and R, the good, the bad, and the ugly.I have so many ideas.if you want to find out more keep 'em coming! 


End file.
